CHAPTER XII. 



WILD AND OTHER ROSES IN THE WILD GARDEN. 



People who shake their heads about naturalizing 

 plants in grass, and say it cannot be done, will hardly 

 say we cannot enjoy the Wild Roses of Europe and 

 Northern Asia in any rough place. These do not 

 want our assistance to trail over the mountains and 

 adorn the river-bed rocks down to the shore. If the 

 soil of the hillside and the stony waste is enough 

 for them, surely the rich fields of lowland England, 

 and its hedgerows, and the good soil which is found 

 near most country houses will nourish Wild Roses 

 as well as the mountains and heaths. Our own Wild 

 Roses — ^we know what they do in the midlands, the 

 west country and on the hills, but not many have a 

 just idea how many beautiful Wild Roses there are in 

 the world that are as hardy as our Sweet Brier. If at 

 present many Wild Roses cannot be had at nurseries, 

 there are some interesting kinds that can be, and there 

 is scarcely a country of Europe or Asia that one goes 



